[NTLUG:Discuss] Adaptec 52445 and 8 x 5200rpm 1TB laptop drives

Christopher Cox cjcox at acm.org
Sun Feb 3 22:29:58 CST 2013


I just wanted to post on something I worked on recently at home.  I have a 8 x 
1TB SAN unit at home... but in order to manipulate big data, you need big data. 
  I was going to look at adding another SAN, but didn't like the options for sale...

I found somebody selling an Adaptec 52445 w/BBU for about $260 (that's a very 
high end SATA2 hw RAID card with 24 ports).  So I bought that, two 4 drive 
cables, 2 icydock 4 bay hotswap internals and 9 x 1TB 5400rpm drives (I had 3 
from a recent newegg shell shocker, so I added 6 more, the extra is just so I 
have a spare on hand).

I RAID5 the 8 drives together on the Adaptec and ran a bonnie++

Version  1.96       ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
Concurrency   1     -Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Machine        Size K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP  /sec %CP
perry           63G  1151  99 592137  82 171219  29  1641  78 782998  55 445.9  25
Latency             14168us   59849us     494ms     377ms   92121us     287ms
Version  1.96       ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
perry               -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
               files  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP
                  16 20622  54 +++++ +++ 25120  61 22679  59 +++++ +++ 24165  61
Latency              8049us      53us      92us     433us      21us      99us
1.96,1.96,perry,1,1359851245,63G,,1151,99,592137,82,171219,29,1641,78,782998,55,445.9,25,16,,,,,20622,54,+++++,+++,25120,61,22679,59,+++++,+++,24165,61,14168us,59849us,494ms,377ms,92121us,287ms,8049us,53us,92us,433us,21us,99us

That was "untuned"... (later is a tuned bonnie++, with XFS options to match the 
RAID)

Now... the seq block numbers are good and Rewrite is a good indicator of overall 
performance under normal rw workloads.  I don't need that performance btw, just 
thought it would be nice to post.  The filesystem I used was XFS for the bench 
on a SLES 11 SP2 (this is the host where I put all of my KVM virtual machines). 
  The host is powered by dual AMD 6128's and has 32GB of memory.

The low Random seeks, which is a good indicator of single client IOPS, are low 
because these are 5400rpm drives after all... but still... even at 445, that's 
not horrible.

Btw, the people I bought that card from still have more for sale, but they 
realized their mistake and have the cards now priced at $399.

Next thing I need to add is a USB 3.0 PCIe.. need one that will work with a 3.0 
kernel though.  I welcome suggestions.

Bonnie++ after tuning...
mkfs.xfs -f  -d su=256k,sw=7 -s size=4096 /dev/perry1vg/test
(this changes away from the default 512byte sector size, this is a new drive 
with 4096 byte sectorsize... and sets the stripe to 256k and width to 7 which is 
number of drives in array-1... for RAID5)

Version  1.96       ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
Concurrency   1     -Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Machine        Size K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP  /sec %CP
perry           63G  1142  99 545463  75 177675  31  2128  99 742694  53 467.6  26
Latency             17372us     123ms     498ms   17107us   83714us     367ms
Version  1.96       ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
perry               -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
               files  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP
                  16 19603  54 +++++ +++ 25383  61 21534  57 +++++ +++ 24208  60
Latency             22115us      68us      95us     380us      25us     100us
1.96,1.96,perry,1,1359901631,63G,,1142,99,545463,75,177675,31,2128,99,742694,53,467.6,26,16,,,,,19603,54,+++++,+++,25383,61,21534,57,+++++,+++,24208,60,17372us,123ms,498ms,17107us,83714us,367ms,22115us,68us,95us,380us,25us,100us


After changing scheduler to deadline instead of cfq... (but notice how the 
writes go down... interesting... see also lower file creates, notice lower CPU 
utilization as well on writes... could be related)

Version  1.96       ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
Concurrency   1     -Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Machine        Size K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP  /sec %CP
perry           63G  1138  99 338795  43 209624  32  2117  99 787359  62 490.7  25
Latency             15466us     322ms    8917ms   21490us     162ms   89936us
Version  1.96       ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
perry               -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
               files  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP
                  16  9088  24 +++++ +++ 26037  62 22228  59 +++++ +++ 24621  61
Latency               408us     128us      89us     339us      18us     103us
1.96,1.96,perry,1,1359902233,63G,,1138,99,338795,43,209624,32,2117,99,787359,62,490.7,25,16,,,,,9088,24,+++++,+++,26037,62,22228,59,+++++,+++,24621,61,15466us,322ms,8917ms,21490us,162ms,89936us,408us,128us,89us,339us,18us,103us

Ok.. how about the noop scheduler...

Version  1.96       ------Sequential Output------ --Sequential Input- --Random-
Concurrency   1     -Per Chr- --Block-- -Rewrite- -Per Chr- --Block-- --Seeks--
Machine        Size K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP K/sec %CP  /sec %CP
perry           63G  1140  99 427795  56 215260  33  2148  99 779608  62 491.9  25
Latency             14541us     223ms    8306ms   13296us     243ms     100ms
Version  1.96       ------Sequential Create------ --------Random Create--------
perry               -Create-- --Read--- -Delete-- -Create-- --Read--- -Delete--
               files  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP  /sec %CP
                  16 21368  57 +++++ +++ 23967  60 21845  55 +++++ +++ 24902  63
Latency               340us      54us     102us     238us      61us     110us
1.96,1.96,perry,1,1359903434,63G,,1140,99,427795,56,215260,33,2148,99,779608,62,491.9,25,16,,,,,21368,57,+++++,+++,23967,60,21845,55,+++++,+++,24902,63,14541us,223ms,8306ms,13296us,243ms,100ms,340us,54us,102us,238us,61us,110us


Obviously there are a ton of other options to try including more options inside 
of queue/iosched... too much and too little time :-)



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